Beyond TV: The Future of Marketing and Advertising

I don’t watch TV. In fact, why should any of us with our busy lives? But, most of us do watch content, the kind of quality programming when we want, and how we want. We’ve entered the time of digital discernment. It means standard metrics are not viable or accurate, the Kings in the industry are dying out, even standard-bearing Neilsen ratings are under attack by those who feel their numbers are underreported and misreported due to DVRs, web viewing, smart phones, not to mention large public viewings.

Advertisers don’t know where to smartly advertise to best find their and real target market. Because of new changes, Networks don’t know what to charge for their airtime or which shows to cancel. Consider just because a show posts lackluster numbers on broadcast television doesn’t mean it won’t catch fire months later on Netflix, the Emmy Award-winning streaming video service slash “House of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black” production company, who famously resurrected “Arrested Development” from the sitcom graveyard.

Some have caught the wave early and take advantage of these new digital platforms in order to produce increases in results. Old Spice made waves with their ad campaign that featured a suave man in the shower clothed only in a towel spouting off non-sequiturs. They leveraged every type of distribution platform available, finding their target market everywhere they could possibly be: the top-ranked sponsored channel on YouTube, nearly two million Facebook fans, 80,000 new Twitter followers in two days thanks to real-time video responses to tweets, even getting free play on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show by creating a spot just for her in the guise of a video response to her tweet, and most recently tweeting a posting a group selfie from the Oscars.

The story sync featured on AMC’s “The Walking Dead” represents the future of what can be possible on television (and for advertisers). Viewers enjoyed a two-screen experience with their tablets, reliving tense moments and gruesome kills with instant replay, voting in snap polls like the “Gore Gauge” and the “Threat Level Meter,” and answering trivia questions with other fans. This stroke of genius allowed viewers to become more immersed in their series than ever before.

The future means more sophisticated targeting and analytics -- cable top boxes have IPs now, meaning Neilsen ratings can be combined with analytics from any of your other platforms, such as an app or on the web. This will lead to better identification, tracking (location), and personalized micro-targeting like customization of offers. The last fifteen years of online advertising will look like the Stone Age by comparison. And once Google Glass launches, television will be but one suddenly cheaper location where advertisers may look to reach their demographics.

We are moving to an all-digital life where our eyeballs are spread across multiple devices. Users will choose to see ads, meaning like the networks and production companies, it up to us the digital agencies to continue to take advantage of the unparalleled amount of data currently available in conjunction with a healthy dose of creativity. Ads must help people live a life on-the-go.

Addressable TV is the future of television advertising. Now political candidates and insurance companies can pinpoint individual homes and people for their ads. Don’t pay for eyeballs you don’t need. Long gone are the days of purchasing airtime, knowing only a fraction of viewers would respond. Advertisers can pinpoint based on their voting history, demographics, magazine subscriptions, and credit scores. DirecTV and Dish Network recently made a partnership for 20 million households, and Comcast/NBC adds another 20 million households to the mix with their Addressable TV through their video-on-demand service, though the latter is not yet ready to launch during live broadcasts.

Here are some unexplored avenues to pull products into the 21st century:

Customized Street Advertising: Small street advertisements and billboards within your city could be programmed to track signals from your mobile devices and display the advertising that would fit your demographic as you walk or drive past. Signals could be transmitted through a company’s app once it is downloaded to the device.

Outgrowing the Box: Major entertainment companies are realizing that their product is too big for regular TV programming and their audience demand is too high to satisfy it with one or two weekly shows. World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) is launching their own network that will be available both on TV and all mobile devices for a monthly fee. This constant mobile-friendly stream of content allows for ads to be displayed 24/7 and at the company’s discretion.

Corporate-Sponsored Housing: Major corporations like PepsiCo or Wal-Mart could invest in large-scale housing projects, outfitting each residence with appliances and technologies that constantly advertised products from that corporation exclusively. Screens throughout the house would feature product advertising, alarms and alerts would be brand-themed, etc. The result would be uninterrupted free advertising through brand placement. They could even provide this housing at a lower cost due to the free marketing, which would earn major reputation points from a social welfare perspective.

Social Shopping: Soon, the days of trying to guess what your friend or loved one wants for a birthday or holiday gift will be history. Just use your Google Glass to scan the eyeball or face of the person you are trying to shop for (or just enter their name if you’re friends on Social Media.) You will be taken to a short list of products that your friend has looked at on the web more than others, and a list of websites that can sell you that product and ship it out today. Just a bit of insight into your friend or loved one’s online shopping habits can make gift-giving so much easier.

Drone-vertising: Major attractions like zoos, museums, stadiums, and state/national parks could contract with major companies to provide discrete airborne drones that advertised special, one-time only deals to consumers by transmitting data to any mobile device within, say, 150 feet of the drone. Downloading an app would be required to receive the drone’s signal. The idea of airborne advertising is not a new one -- think of those biplanes at the beach that drag signs along.